Clean hair in a hurry: The lowdown on dry shampoos

Erica Mayyasi is a Red Sox fan in Manhattan. After stints at various magazines she now works full-time in public relations, though she continues to write for a number of sites including her blog etsymay.blogspot.com.

Dry clean your hair

Dry shampoos are all the rage right now, but do they really work? We spoke to an expert and tried out over a dozen of the top products on the market to give you the scoop on this new, water-free hair-washing technology.

Dry shampoo reviews

So which dry shampoos actually fulfill their promise?

We checked some out, testing each for two days after traditional shampooing. Here are our picks:

What we found: This product from the renowned New York Blow Dry Bar lives up to the legacy of this Manhattan hot spot and is very effective at absorbing oil buildup. Unlike most dry shampoos, which are in aerosol cans, FAUX DRY comes in a squeeze bottle, so you can be more precise with application.

What we found: Most dry shampoos only come in one color and that color is white. Although you rub it through your hair, on dark-haired gals it can be hard to get all of the color from still showing. This residual color is what Amanda Jenkins referred to when she said that dry shampoos can make darker hair look dusty. Shampowder, available in three colors to match different hair shades (light hair, dark and red hair, and black hair) handily solves this.

What we found: One of our favorite dry shampoos, Psssssst is an all-around great find at an unbeatable price. Though it says it's unscented, we found Psssssst to have an intoxicating, subtle aroma that we couldn't get enough of. Entirely independent of our testing, Amanda Jenkins also recommended this product.

What we found: Big Sexy Hair Volumizing Dry Shampoo delivers exactly what it promises: big volume. If that's what you're looking for this product can't be beat however we found it came with a drawback: it left our hair feeling a bit hard and stiff.

What we found: Wonderful oil absorbency and volume with a refreshing citrus scent. We had a bit of trouble with residual white color in our darker hair however it was worth the extra effort needed to brush it all out.